THE WHITE WILLOW. 465 
of this species are lance-shaped, but tapered at 
both ends, having a prominent mid-vein with 
veinlets running thence in oblique and parallel 
lines to the leaf-margin. The specific name of 
alba has been suggested by the white downy or 
hairy covering of the surface of the leaves. This 
down gives to the foliage of the White Willow a 
singularly silky, silvery appearance. Its flowers 
are borne in cylindrical catkins, and are yellow in 
colour, the tiny resulting seeds from the female 
Trees—for the Willows, like the Poplars, are 
‘dioecious ’—being winged with soft, silky down, 
which thus provides for their distribution. 
